Indicator setting means for timepiece showing the time in two time-belts



April 21, 1964 RUCH INDICATOR SETTING MEANS FOR TIMEPIECE SHOWING THE TIME IN TWO TIME-BELTS Filed July 11, 1961 United States Patent 3,129,555 INDICATOR SETTHNG ltiEANS FGR TIMEIPIECE SHQWING THE Til /ill EN TWG Tilltiifi=EELTS Georges Albert Ruth, 65 Ave. Reuchenette, Bienne, Switzerland Fiied July 11, 1961, Ser. No. 123,217 Claims priority, application Switzerland Aug. 10, 1960 1 Claim. (til. 58-85.5)

My invention has for its object a clockwork which allows reading simultaneously the time in two predetermined time-belts. It includes to this end in addition to the conventional hour, minute, and possibly second-indicating parts, a second hour-indicating part.

Such clockworks are well-known in the art, and most of them include a further hour hand which is shiftable. Said system is much too bulky in a vertical direction for watches which are to show a comparatively reduced thickness. My invention has for its object, a particularly thin watch provided however with a second hour-indicating art.

p According to my invention, the clockwork includes such a second hour-indicating part constituted by a disc lying in a recess of the dial and carrying at least one reference mark while means are provided for shifting angularly said disc with reference to the conventional hour-indicating part, said shifting being obtained stepwise by amounts corresponding each to one hour whereby the reference mark on said disc may be set in registry with the time corresponding to a predetermined time-belt, the conventional time-indicating parts not being carried along by this shifting.

I have illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings, a preferred embodiment of the clockwork incorporating my invention.

In said drawings,

FIG. 1 is a plan view thereof as seen from the dial side, and

FIG. 2 is a partial cross-section through line IIII of FIG. 1.

In the drawing, 1 designates the plate of the clockwork movement, which plate carries the dial 2. Said plate 1 carries revolvably the shaft 3 of the hour wheel on which is fitted with slight friction the cannon wheel 4 meshing with the motion work 5 of which the pinion 6 engages the hour wheel 7. On said hour wheel 7 is revolvably fitted an indicator disc 8 rigid on the one hand with a finely toothed wheel 9 and, on the other hand, with a star-shaped wheel carrying twelve arms 10. A washer 11 fitted with slight friction over the pipe of the hour wheel 7 holds in their relative axial direction, the parts 9, 8, 10. In order to make the disc angularly rigid with the hour Wheel 7, the latter pivotally carries a yoke 12, the tip of which is urged by the spring 13 into the interval between two arms of the star-shaped wheel 10. Said yoke is light enough to recede so as to allow the rotation of the disc without the latter driving the motion work. It is apparent that the disc 8 carrying the reference mark giving out the time in any desired time belt rests on an annular projection raised on the toothed wheel 9 so that the washer 11 is nested within the recess defined over the toothed wheel 9 inside the raised annular projection thereon, said washer 11 which ensures the slight friction holding the system 8, 9, 10 in the desired axial location on the hour wheel pipe 7 being held between the cooperating surfaces of the disc 8 and of the star-shaped wheel 10.

Driving catches 14 and 15 engaging the toothed wheel 9 provide for a stepwise rotation of the disc by successive angles corresponding each substantially to the spacing between successive arms of the star-shaped wheel 10. These two catches 14 and 15 are subjected to the action of a return spring 16 urging them away from the associated finely toothed wheel 9. Said catches 14 and 15 are actuated manually through the agency of push members which are not illustrated.

A thrust exerted on the push member actuating the catch 14 produces an anti-clockwise progression of the disc by one arm interval of the star-shaped wheel 10 whereas a thrust exerted on the push-member controlling the catch 15 makes the disc revolve clockwise by a same arm interval. Of course, the number of subdivisions on the hour scale of the dial, which number is equal to 12 or 24.

What I claim is:

In a timepiece including a clockwork and adapted to provide the simultaneous reading of time in at least two time-belts, the combination of an hour wheel driven by said clockwork and provided with a pipe, an hour hand rigid with the hour wheel, a fiat annular dial provided with an hour scale cooperating with the hour hand, a disc revolvably carried by said hour wheel pipe inside the inner periphery of the dial and provided with a reference mark registering with the hour scale, a star-shaped member coaxially rigid with the disc underneath the latter and including a number of arms equal to the number of subdivisions of the hour scale, a yoke pivotally carried by the hour wheel and adapted to engage selectively the intervals between the arms of the star-shaped member thereby to make the disc follow the rotation of the hour hand with a predetermined angular spacing between the latter and the reference mark on the disc, a spring urging said yoke into engagement with said star-shaped member, a toothed whee] coaxially rigid with and surrounding the upper part of the star-shaped member and including an annular projection facing away from and lying outside the star-shaped member and bearing against a cooperating annular section of the lower surface of the disc, a washer fitted between said disc and the star-shaped member over the part of the toothed wheel lying inside the projection on the latter and frictionally engaging the hour wheel pipe and manually operated catch means engaging said toothed wheel to shift same in the desired direction by the desired amount.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,496,348 McArthur June 3, 1924 2,456,122 Guilden Dec. 14, 1948 2,654,213 Galley Oct. 6, 1953 2,674,085 Israel Apr. 6, 1954 2,723,527 Smith Nov. 15, 1955 FOREIGN PATENTS 19,052 Great Britain Sept. 3, 1904 340,191 Switzerland July 31, 1959 

